The 44rd session of the UN Committee on Food Security (CFS44), in Rome, is on this week and SLU is the co-organiser of one of the side events: Feminism, Forests and Food Security.
The event, which took place yesterday had the subtitle: And women's important role in the development of sustainable managment of the forest landscape as well as the importance of forests for food supply globally. Camilla Widmark from the Department of Forest Economics gave a keynote about the gender situation in the Swedish forest sector. Camilla is also one of the authors of the HLPE* (High Level Panel of Experts) report on Forests and Food Security and Nutrition for this year's CFS.
Globally, it is estimated that 1.6 billion people depend on forests for their livelihoods. Forests are safety nets for poor and rural communities where people can collect firewood and food, and it is often wom-en who perform these forest-related chores.
In this context, gender can be used as a cross-cutting issue to address the importance of forests for food security.
In Sweden, 38 % of the private forest is owned by women, while globally they are underrepresented in governing positions and ownership. Can Sweden’s work for sustainable management of the forest landscape, together with the objectives of equality and women’s empower-ment, support sustainable development in the world?
In this CFS side event we highlight the sometimes ignored role of women in forest resource management. Gender roles play an important part in regulating access to resources. We focus on the role of women, to emphasize the importance of forests for food security in the poorest and most vulnerable areas of the world.
Introduction and Moderation
Peter Holmgren
DG, Center for International Forestry Research, CIFOR
Keynote presentation
Camilla Widmark
Deputy Head of Department of Forest Economics, SLU
Panelists
Cecilia Nordin van Gansberghe
Former Swedish ambassador to FAO, Senior Advisor at the Swedish Ministry of Enterprise and Innovation
Lennart Ackzell
Dr. Senior Advisor International Affairs, Federation of Swedish Family Forest Owners
Kerstin Johnsson Cissé
Head of Global Economy and Environment, Sida
Elizabeth Mwiyeria
Country Manager, Vi Agroforestry, Kenya
Marlene Elias
Gender Specialist, Conservation and Management of Forest Genetic Resources, Bioversity International
*The High Level Panel of Experts on Food Security and Nutrition (HLPE) was established in 2010 as the science-policy interface of the UN Committee on World Food Security (CFS). The HLPE aims to improve the robustness of policy making by providing independent, evidence-based analysis and advice at the request of CFS.
Camilla Widmark, Senior Researcher
Department of Forest Economics
camilla.widmark@slu.se, +46 (0)90-786 8596, +46 (0)70-292 9018
Event flyer: Feminism, Forests and Food Security
Download the HLPE report 2017 and summaries here.